We already told you about the planned remake, as well as a stage musical adaptation of the 1992 film, ‘The Bodyguard, which starred Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston.

Regarding the stage musical adaptation, last September we announced Tony and Grammy award winner Heather Headley’s casting to star in the role originated by Whitney Houston on film.

The David Ian-produced stage musical is underway is now said to be aiming for a fall 2012 debut, this November at the Adelphi Theatre, on London’s West End, with an eventual Broadway run likely at this point, given Houston’s recent death, and the rush to capitalize on that.

Thea Sharrock (Equus with Daniel Radcliffe) will direct.

As already noted in a previous post, the death of Whitney Houston certains gives every upcoming project that she was ever associated with or connect to in any way, a much higher profile; they’ve suddenly taken on even more significance, and I’m betting Heather Headley is aware of this.

Headley’s past stage credits include, among other shows, the title role inAida, for which she won the 2000 Tony.

The story again goes… When arrogant and domineering musical superstar (Whitney Houston in the film) begins receiving death threats, she hires a bodyguard. Enter an ex-Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner in the film) with his own demons, and his unpopular, stringent security measures. Inevitably, Costner and Houston fall in love, and some other predictable drama ensues.

However, according to the Daily Mail in the UK… “… the stage version of The Bodyguard won’t just be repeating the film. Instead, playwright Alex Dinelarius has written a sharp new book that isn’t a word-for-word copycat of the picture. Plus, several other numbers associated with Houston, such as I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), will be used in the show.“

Interesting… so I suppose they’ll be mining Whitney’s library of music for songs to use in the show, and not just material from the film’s soundtrack.

The 1992 film grossed over $400 million worldwide at the box office.

I should note that the original script for that film was written by Lawrence Kasdan in the late 1970s, as a vehicle for Steve McQueen and Diana Ross, but McQueen backed out. And by the time it got produced, some 16 years later, McQueen was dead, and Kevin Costner gave us his best Steve McQueen impression, haircut and all!